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Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Hougang by-election: 26 May 2012

I am very happy to hear that President Tony Tan has today at 4.05pm issued the Writ of Elections for a by-election at the Hougang single member constitutency. Nomination papers for candidates have to be filed by 16th May 2012 and the most likely date for elections would be the 26th of May 2012.

This is definitely good news. Many people have shown skepticism about the PM's willingness to recognise the new reality of the post 2011 political universe in Singapore. When I blogged about the Hougang by-election in an earlier post and expressed my hope that the PM would call for the election expeditiously, there were comments left on this blog and comments from my friends that expressed serious doubt as to whether a by-election would be held at all. I feel that my hope was not misplaced. I do still feel that the current cabinet is willing to go along with the process of re-thinking its approach to governance.

This current decision to call for a by-election has to be seen positively. Yaw Shin Leong was expelled from his party on 15 Feb 2012 and his seat became vacant. The 3 month time-frame that used to exist in our former Federal Constitution would have kicked in on 15 May 2012. (This requirement does not exist in our Constitution today and the timing is discretionary.) By issuing the Writ of Election today, the President under the advise of the Cabinet has clearly acted expeditiously.

What we need in the future is for such expeditious by-elections to be a norm. If a seat becomes vacant, we need a strong political convention that it would be filled expeditiously. A 3 to 6 month timeframe is reasonable. The PM has exceeded my expectation by calling for the by-election within 3 months.

Another small step in the direction of a more democratic Singapore.

(I can imagine that there would be those that take a cynical view about this. The PAP is bound to lose in Hougang anyway. They have nothing to lose, therefore, by calling for an early election. They have tremendous political capital to gain by acting responsibly on this occasion. That would explain the early date. But, I don't mind giving credit where it is due.)

The following is the PM's statement in relation to the Hougang by-election:

"In the General Election in May 2011, nearly all seats were contested. Many important issues were aired and debated. In the outcome, Singaporeans gave the PAP team a clear mandate to form the Government.

Over the past year, the Government has worked hard together with Singa­poreans to implement its programme to build an inclusive Singapore, and improve the lives of all.

We set the broad directions when Parliament opened last October. In the Budget in February we followed up with effective schemes to help the poor, the elderly and the disabled. We are also upgrading our companies’ and workers’ skills, so that our economy can grow and Singaporeans can improve their incomes year by year.

However, much work remains ahead to translate good policies and programmes into actions on the ground, and to deliver the results that we all look forward to.

In January this year, news surfaced of personal indiscretions by Mr Yaw Shin Leong, the Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament for Hougang constituency. The WP first kept totally silent, then supported Mr Yaw, and then three weeks later suddenly expelled him from the party. Until now the WP has not given Singa­poreans a full and proper account of what happened, or why it acted in this way. Mr Yaw himself has said nothing, either to explain or to apologise for his behaviour, and has reportedly left the country. Both the WP and Mr Yaw have let down all those who voted for him. As a result of Mr Yaw’s expulsion from the WP, the Hougang constituency seat fell vacant.

I hope these events will not distract us from focussing on our national priorities, and building an inclusive Singa­pore. Although the Constitution does not require me to call a by-election within any fixed timeframe, I said in Parliament that I intended to call a by-election in Hougang. This morning I advised the President to issue the Writ of Election.

The by-election will give Hougang residents the chance to elect a new MP to serve them. I encourage Hougang voters to use this opportunity wisely, to elect the best candidate with commitment and integrity: someone they can rely upon to express their hopes and concerns, address their needs, and make a real difference to their lives."

If i am not wrong, that should go on. The hearing was to clarify the constitution. Although the PM has advised the president to issue the writ of election, he did say that the constitution does not require him to call a by-election within ANY fixed time-frame.

I believe the call for by-election by netizens has prodded PAP to action. Their initial reaction was to drag their feet. Pre-Internet they would likely have done just that - dragging it out. Lately, they have been reactive to netizens' demands as they gain more influence.

At least PAP is listening, which is a good thing for the people. If LKY were still in power, we might have an impasse, a bad situation.

This announcement is good for the nation. Still, a more diverse representation in the parliament would serve the country well in the long run.

In the case, M Ravi has sought a mandatory order and 2 declaratory orders. I believe that the mandatory order is going to be redundant but the issues pertaining to the declaratory orders are important from a constitutional standpoint and the court might decide to proceed with the case.

If the PM has decided at the onset that he was going to call the elections within 3 months, he would not have allowed the Attorney General to apply to set aside Ravi's application. If he had not challenged the application, I may have given him more credit. I think it is more likely that he is not confident that the court is going to rule in his favour. It would have been very odd for the court to come up with a final judgment that is not consistent with the expert opinions of four of our constitutional law professors, considering that none of our judges have been constitutional law experts before they were appointed to the bench.

I believe that the PM's hand was forced somewhat because of the rather strong position adopted by academics. You are right to say that the courts would be in a very difficult position if they had to decide in a manner that contradicted constitutional experts. In all likelihood the Courts would agree with the academic view and the PM would have been placed in an embarrasing position. So, there would have been a strong impetus for issuing the Writ of Elections in time to avoid a defeat in the Courts.

Take a look at that statement. Pinkie and his hangers-on luv to describe Sinkapoor as a 1st world country. Well, if we really are then we are a 1st world country with a 3rd world PeeM, for no 1st world leader will go down on his belly and slither in the slime the way he does. And he seems to enjoy doing it. Pathetic!

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About Me

I blog primarily about the law & politics in Singapore, occassionally veering off into socio-economic issues. Article 14 of the Singapore Constitution protects the Freedom of Speech, Expression,Peaceful Assembly and Association. But, there are excessive restrictions on these Freedoms. I hope that I can, in my small way, contribute to the gradual realisation of these Freedoms in our land